SPEARFISH | National Travel and Tourism Week, the annual celebration of the contributions and accomplishments of the U.S. travel industry set for May 3-9, will spotlight resilience and hope in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic with this year’s theme: the Spirit of Travel.

Since in-person rallies and events that have been hallmarks of NTTW in years past are not an option this year, Visit Spearfish hopes to engage the Spearfish community by inviting tourism and hospitality businesses, organizations, and their employees to share their stories online.

“The tourism and hospitality industry plays a major role in the Spearfish economy. Many businesses in Spearfish -- large and small –- rely on visitor traffic and spending,” said Mistie Caldwell, Visit Spearfish executive director. “We’re hoping that those businesses will share their stories online on keeping 'the spirit of travel' alive as we look forward."

“There’s no doubt this has been an incredibly challenging time for the Spearfish community, but we see National Travel and Tourism Week as an opportunity to remind our visitors and our residents of the incredible spirit and resiliency of the travel industry and our workforce. It’s only a matter of time before we all get moving again, and when we do, Spearfish will be more ready than ever to welcome travelers with open arms," Caldwell said.

Celebrated annually the first full week in May, National Travel and Tourism Week was created by Congress in 1983 to underscore the economic power of travel in the United States.

“Through every hardship, I find myself in awe of the travel industry’s ability to join together, adapt, and emerge stronger than before,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “This is our toughest challenge yet, but what I’ve seen is that the spirit of travel has not been shattered.”